UK plans bid to host 2029 World Championships

UK Sport and UK Athletics are in the process of preparing a bid to host the 2029 World Championships.

London, and the UK, last hosted the event in 2017.

A feasibility study needs to take place but BBC Sport has been told the sport’s leaders are “determined” to host “transformational” major championships.

“We’d love to have another crack at 2029 and a World Championships,” Jack Buckner, chief executive of UK Athletics, told BBC Sport.

“We just do a great job. Everyone talks about the atmosphere and every event we’ve done.

“We first of all have to do a feasibility study and look at what the various options are.”

He said “it would be in his mind” that London would be the city to host the event if the bid was successful.

“We can’t definitely say it’ll be London, but it would be in our mind given the success of it before. I think London [2017] was transformational and it built off 2012 [the Olympic Games]. It was transformational in all sorts of ways,” he added.

Over the weekend, Glasgow was the host city for the World Indoor Championships, while Birmingham has been selected to host the 2026 European Championships.

Josh Kerr, the men’s 3,000m world indoor champion in Glasgow, expressed that a home World Championships would signify a “true full circle moment.”

“My first World Championships was in London in 2017, so that would be incredible if that was to come through and that would definitely push me to stick in the 1500m for as long as I can,” the Scot, also the 1500m world champion, told BBC Sport.

“It’s important for Britain to have athletics meets because it inspires generations of athletes to come through and know that there are athletes that are from where they’re from going after massive medals in front of home crowds.

“It makes a huge difference to grassroots athletics especially and it helps with coaching and allowing people to get an insight into our lives and that next stepping stone to where some athletes are now.”